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Restaurant Ownership
Restaurants are a relatively new human way of dining and drinking. The first modern restaurants were opened in Paris in the second half of the 18th century. “The word ‘restaurant’ is a French word that originally referred to a type of restorative meat broth or bouillon created by steaming various types of meat”, states University Libraries. Early restaurants were different from the popular taverns at the time because restaurants were made for wealthy patrons who could afford to pay for a warm meal and personal service in a well-decorated and relatively clean room. Today, restaurants serve people of all classes, there are still high-end restaurants that offer more to people who can afford to pay more, but there are also restaurants geared toward people with lower incomes. An important part of a restaurant’s success is location. For example, a waterfront restaurant in a big city will probably do well even if their food is not that great, because people sometimes want a good view while they eat. On the other hand, a restaurant in a part of town that is dangerous or just not very populated may not get very much business. When asked what the worst thing about owning a restaurant is, professional chef Tom Harvey said “The worst thing about owning a restaurant is that you never know how many customers are going to come through the door, and being overstaffed on a slow night or understaffed on a busy night is hard to deal with”. According to CNBC, 60% of new restaurants fail in their first year, and 80% of new restaurants do not make it to their fifth anniversary. Not only is operating a successful restaurant difficult, but it takes several steps for it to even be legal. According to Sirvo.com, there are seven licenses and permits required to open a new restaurant; a Business License, and Employer Identification Number, a Certificate of Occupancy, a Food Service License, a Liquor License (only if the chef plans to sell liquor), a Music License (to play copyrighted background music), and a Sign Permit which is granted by the city and dictates where your sign can be placed, what it can look like, and how big it can be. Even with the risk of failure and all these hurdles, thousands of chefs and food lovers in America start restaurants every year. Professional chef Tom Harvey said that the best part about being a restaurant owner was “being able to use your creativity and turn it into your profession”. He also said, “One of the best feelings is when a happy customer asks to see the chef, and then tells you that the food was magnificent and that they will tell their friends how good it was”. Some restaurant owners are more disconnected with the food, however. A lot of franchise owners for fast food chains own many locations and are hardly involved with the food. Local restaurants owned and operated by chefs and small business owners generally have a tougher time getting started than already-popular companies like Chick-fil-A.